


Teeth of Pearl

by track_04



Category: Annihilation (2018 Garland)
Genre: Body Horror, F/F, Foreshadowing, Rough Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 15:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20194504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/track_04/pseuds/track_04
Summary: If all the statues in the worldWould turn to flesh with teeth of pearlWould they be kind enough to comfort meInspired byStatuesby Moloko





	Teeth of Pearl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NeverwinterThistle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverwinterThistle/gifts).

Lena found Ventress alone in a clearing, sitting atop a tangle of vines, her pack resting beside her. There was a knife in her hand and a thoughtful look on her face as she stared at a figure in front of her, bleached white and human-shaped, its not-limbs reaching up towards the sky; the trees bent twisted around it, leaves folded politely away to allow her a full view of the thing's blank face.

Lena stopped just inside the tree line and stared at it with her. The leaves rustled around them, moved by a breeze that Lena could hear but didn't feel. Their shadows twisted around themselves, sinking into the figure's surfaces and inching their way upwards, leaving behind the impression of a mouth, wide and dark and endless.

"Sometimes I wonder what happened to the other people I sent in here," Ventress said, dark humor winding its way through her words. "The ones not on your husband's team, of course."

Lena shifted, made herself look away from the thing that wasn't screaming in front of them. "Does it matter?"

"Not really. I still wonder, though."

Ventress shrugged and rose, knife still clutched in her hand. She dusted off the back of her pants in a gesture that was pure reflex--a remembered nicety from the days when it mattered if her clothes were dirty. The fabric bunched beneath her fingers like bits of papery skin, the way it moved around her legs wrong as she crossed the clearing, closer to the gleaming, faceless thing in front of them. She buried the knife in a nearby tree and the wind in Lena's ears sounded almost like a scream. Lena covered her ears but didn't tell her to stop, just watched in a mixture of horror and fascination as Ventress lifted a hand to touch the thing's face, her fingertip tracing the edges of the place where its mouth wouldn't end.

The shadows twisted beneath Ventress's touch, receding slightly as faint lines of color snaked outwards, bright stains against pale flesh. The leaves shifted angrily above them and she took a step back to survey her work. The brittle edges of her satisfaction cut through the air around them.

"I was so sure we were all going to die here."

Lena focused on Ventress's face and ignored the terror spreading beneath the thing's skin, a technicolor bruise against an otherwise blank canvas. She swallowed, a conviction in her voice she wasn't sure she felt anymore. "I'm not going to die."

Ventress laughed, a quick, sharp sound that made the thing turn its face away. "Why? Because you have things to do? You know you're not the only one, right?"

"I'm not going to die here," Lena repeated.

Ventress stared at her, expression curious and voice almost disappointed. "You should try. It's probably the best option."

Lena shrugged, and the thing behind Ventress echoed the movement.

Ventress stepped toward her and reached up to touch the edge of her mouth. Her fingertip dug into her flesh, pushing it upward, forcing it where she wanted it; she looked almost disappointed when Lena's mouth held its shape. Lena stared at her, angry and wide-eyed and riveted as Ventress leaned in, replacing her finger with her mouth. She kissed her, all sharp teeth and broken-mouthed, while the leaves rustled around them and the thing in the clearing behind them continued to not scream.

Lena parted her lips, opening herself up to it, and clung to Ventress's hips. She could feel Ventress trying to reshape her from the inside out, tear her apart so she could build something newer, better from what remained. It stole her breath and made her limbs sing with a curious, bright coldness that wasn't her and wasn't Ventress and still couldn't have been anyone or anything else. She knew in that moment that it had always been there, beneath their skin, waiting.

Somewhere in the distance, Josie and Anya called their names.

Lena broke the kiss and took a step backward, pressing the back of her hand against her mouth to hold in a scream.

Ventress stared at her mouth in vague disappointment for a moment and shook her head, then bent to gather her pack. She slipped it on, giving the thing behind her one last look, and then turned to smile faintly at Lena. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

Lena ran her tongue over her stinging lips, unable to bring herself to say _you, too_.


End file.
